Romanian PM Ciolacu fires head of Revolutionaries’ Secretariat after denial of his 1989 role recognition, appoints former PSD Bucharest interim president

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu dismissed Mihai Iulian Dodu as the State Secretary of the Secretariat for Revolutionaries. This decision was published in the Official Monitor on Wednesday. Dodu had initiated a review of Ciolacu’s request to be recognized as a key figure in the December 1989 Revolution, but a special committee within the secretariat found Ciolacu did not meet the criteria for revolutionary certification.

Ciolacu also appointed Sever Romulus Stana as the head of the Secretariat. Stana previously advised the former mayor of Sector 6, Gabriel Mutu, served as interim president of PSD Bucharest, and worked as a counselor at the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) . In 2019, he was the prefect of the capital city. Dodu was appointed to the Secretariat by former Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă.

After Ciolacu became Prime Minister, Dodu had a special commission review Ciolacu’s request, which was subsequently rejected. The official document indicates this review followed the Anticorruption Directorate’s communication about closing a case concerning Ciolacu’s revolutionary role.

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The Buzău Court registered an action on July 25 by Ciolacu contesting the annulment of his request to recognize his anti-communist fighter merits.

Recently, Dodu explained for Recorder the process leading to the review of Ciolacu’s request.

„We had a complaint filed in November 2022 by an individual, and after the case’s dismissal by the DNA in March 2023, the file regarding the assignment of this role – determinant or not – had to be analyzed. My institution’s Legal Service requested this. It’s imperative, not optional, for us to discuss these complaints. Moreover, the Service for Revolutionaries – also within the Secretariat I lead – had sent a proposal to the Presidential Administration to award the title. Thus, I was obliged from two sides to make a decision.”

With a 4 to 1 vote, a newly-appointed committee at the Secretariat decided what the Prime Minister didn’t want to hear: „The committee finds that Mr. Marcel Ciolacu did not meet the cumulative conditions to occupy and defend objectives of special importance that belonged to the totalitarian regime in localities where, as a result of these actions and confrontations, people were killed, detained, or injured until the dictator’s flight, specifically at 12:10, hence the request for the title of determinant fighter is rejected.”

In the file at the Buzău Court, Marcel Ciolacu expressed dissatisfaction with the reopening of the entire discussion, which he considers completely illegal.

Moreover, shortly after, he called the state secretary whose tenure was dependent on his premier’s pen and even brought up the subject of the lawsuit.

Asked by Recorder about this conversation, Mihai Dodu was evasive but admitted it. „He called me; otherwise, we have an institutional relationship. The discussion was neither cordial nor usual. A bit tense. Now, it’s hard to somehow separate the physical person from the political person of the premier. The message for me is clear: the court must have its say,” says the state secretary.

Mihai Dodu was appointed by the PNL in April. At a time when the Secretariat for Revolutionaries had become devoid of political stakes, Nicolae Ciucă chose, from a pile of CVs, the application of a history teacher whose father was shot in the Revolution. Once in office, Dodu decided to reanalyze older, still unresolved files. Thus, peace in the institution was once again disturbed, according to Recorder.

On October 3, the Prime Minister’s Control Body began detailed checks at the Secretariat for Revolutionaries. Among other things, it expressed interest in the committees that analyze or reanalyze, as in the case of the premier, files for certificates. Now, a report follows. Coincidentally, this report can be completed just before the first hearing of the lawsuit opened by Marcel Ciolacu, already set for January 11, 2024.

Mihai Dodu said that the institution he leads will defend itself against Marcel Ciolacu and does not intend to be absent at the trial.